OUR VIEW

Other nations need to be considered

President Clinton last week announced a number of appointments to his cabinet for his second term in office.

Among those appointees which are subject to confirmation by the Senate is Madeleine Albright as Secretary of State, the first woman ever named to that high level post, a post that would be in line to succeed the president should a disaster occur.

Albright has been serving as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations.

All of this sounds great on the surface. We certainly applaud the president for considering a woman for the post.

However, such a nomination is a slap in the face to the many nations on earth who do not and will not deal with women in high positions. While we may not agree with the positions of these other nations, it is their culture.

The Secretary of State by nature of the office will be dealing with these people and needs to be accepted. We realize that Albright has dealt with many nations at the United Nations but the post of Secretary of State is far different than that position.The United States throughout its history has not dealt in a sincere fashion with the many cultures of the world, thereby causing our country many of the diplomacy problems it has encountered.

This nomination needs to be reconsidered with the beliefs of other nations in mind.

But they didn't visit the granddaddy of them all in Pecos, home of the World's First Rodeo. They did mention Pecos on Page 10, right after Alpine, whose citizens also claim the first rodeo.

Taking the reader behind the chutes, Wooden and Ehringer reveal the essential character of rodeo culture today and show why it retains such a strong hold on the American imagination.

Contemporary rodeo has evolved into a much-publicized bigtime phenomenon even as it strives to stay close to its fundamental cowboy roots. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association now sanctions 750 to 800 annual rodeos worth more than $22 million in prize money, attended by nearly 20 million spectators and watched by millions more on ESPN and TNN.

The National Finals Rodeo alone offers more than $2 million in prize money and is attended by 170,000 spectators every December.

The authors highlight rodeo's glamour and glory, hazards and hardships, while clairfying its many dimensions as sport, profession, business, community event, family tradition and pop cultural icon.

Bareback and bull riders, calf ropers and steer wrestlers, barrel racers and saddle bronc busters, bullfighters and arena clowns, stock breeders and local organizers, judges and journalists, the famous and aspiring, winners and losers - all are given their due in a work that reflects the enormous allure and demands of rodeo life.

Randy Witte, publisher of Western Horseman, calls Rodeo in America "the definitive book on rodeo near the end of the twentieth century."

Published by the University of Kansas, 2501 W. 15th St., Lawrence KS 66049-3904, the 298-page hardback book sells for $24.95. For more information call Susan Schott at 913-864-4155.-Peggy McCrackenReturn to Menu

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